Not Alone
by Cheryl W
Summary: Sometimes it's not about being safe, it's about not being alone.


Not Alone

Author: Cheryl W.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or any rights to Stargate Atlantis, nor am I making any profit from this story.

Summary: Sometimes it's not about being safe, it's about not being alone.

Author's Note: I've just discovered Stargate Atlantis and now I'm super obsessed. Wrote this little one shot and though I don't know how many people are still reading these fics, I had to put it out here to support this awesome show.

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He's in the cell alone and that should actually be the good news. It means the rest of his team's fine, didn't get the crap beat out of them and arrested like he did. Who knew bar fights were a universal thing. Hot girl hits on him, he, since he's alive and has good taste in women, responds with a smile, buys said girl a drink, leans in close for conversation before he was rudely yanked backwards and sucker punched. And just because of his luck, the jealous boyfriend had five friends who joined the fight.

They weren't soldiers, true, but they were stronger than him thanks to whatever these idiots on this planet eat for veggies. And last time he checked, killing someone in a bar fight was still over the top, so his knife in his boot, stayed in his boot. Not to mention they were supposed to be on a diplomatic mission here, you know good will toward men on the planet, even the Neanderthal jerks using his face as a punching bag and his ribs as a soccer ball.

Then the law had shown up and as things went, the Neanderthal was kin to the law so who got hauled off to the pokey? Just John. And they hadn't read him his Miranda rights or assigned him a lawyer or told him to watch his head while they shoved him in the horse drawn jail cart. Instead they had cracked him over the head with a bully stick, hauled him out of the bar by his foot and tossed him into the cart like a sack of potatoes that they were pissed at. His entry into the jail cell went similar except they put more umph into the toss and he rolled across the floor and slammed into the cell bars with his back and his head.

So much for this planet having a civilized culture with a respect for law and order. He so wasn't voting to make this an alpha site or befriend these jerks. On that note, he passed out.

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At first Ronon, Teyla and Rodney were loudly and angrily protesting their march to the jail cell…until McKay saw who was already occupying one of the cells. "Sheppard?!" he called out in alarm at the sight of his very bloody very still commanding officer lying face down on the floor of the right jail cell. Rushing to the cell, he tried to rouse his friend through the iron bars, "Sheppard?! Hey, wake up! John!" was soon joined by Teyla and Ronon on either side.

"What did you do to him?!" Ronon snarled, turning to face his captors with rage. Taking exception to that tone, a guard used a cattle prod to stun the tall man, causing him to stumble to the ground, barely clinging to consciousness.

Threatening them with another cattle prod, the remaining guard ushered Rodney and Teyla into the next cell over from Sheppard's and shoved them inside and clanked the door shut. Then they watched as Ronon struggled to get to his feet, all three guards surrounding him with cattle prods as they opened Sheppard's cell door and herded Ronon in. But even before the door shut, Ronon was dropping to his knees beside Sheppard. "Sheppard?" he called out worriedly, fingers reaching out to feel the man's pulse point in his neck. He closed his eyes in relief when he found a strong beat under his finger pads.

"How is he? Is he ok?" Rodney fired out his questions as he pressed himself against the bars that separated him from his two male friends.

"Does he look ok?" Ronon growled back furious, not at Rodney, but at whoever had inflicted this pain on his friend, at the idea that he hadn't been there to protect John. Stuffing his anger down, he gently rolled John onto his back, had to fight to not punch something when he got a better look at his friend's cut, bruised and bleeding features. Running his fingers gently though John's hair, he found not one but two swelling lumps followed up by running his fingers across his friend's ribcage…and felt the break in one rib and the heavy bruising along John's torso. "Two blows to his head, …broken rib…bruised to hell," he reported to his anxious friends.

Having no medical supplies and having been too damn effectively searched so all his knives had been confiscated, Ronon felt useless to help his friend. So he did what he could. Stripping off his coat, he laid it over Sheppard because the man was only wearing his t-shirt, had to be near frozen laying on the ice cold cell floor. Then Ronon lowered his tall frame to that same floor, shuffled close to Sheppard and eased his friend's head from the floor onto his thigh. Resting his hand on his friend's shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're not alone, John. We're here with you now."

It wasn't much in the way of comfort but it was all he could offer.

All three were surprised when a few minutes later, John Sheppard slurred out "What took you so long?" before he sank back into the void, but this time he knew it was alright, he wasn't alone and if there was one thing his time in the Pegasus galaxy had taught him: If his friends were with him, he was going to be just fine.

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THE END ( _Come on you know they get home alright...remember who you're talking about here_ )

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Thanks for anyone out there reading this and I would really love some feedback. I have other fics in mind but only if someone shows interest in hearing more stargate atlantis tales from me.

Have a great day!

Cheryl W.


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